This is it Phan
by lardidar
Summary: Dan has gone out but when he comes back home, there is something missing. Or more like someone.
1. This is it

"Bye Phil!" Dan's shouted to Phil before closing the door behind him. What he did know was those two words was ever going to say to Phil.

It was a nice summer's day and Dan had decided to go out for a few hours and meet up with some old friends leaving Phil on his own. Everything was going perfectly, they had been living together for a couple of years now and their friendship had reached the stage where it just simply couldn't get any stronger than that. Phil couldn't deal with it though, yes he was so happy to have a friend like Dan, who would look after him and protect him no matter what. That wasn't the case. The reason why Phil had been lead into this black pit of depression was because he loved Dan and not in the friendship way. He loved him more than anything else, more than himself but seeing the chocolate haired male every day, watching him laugh, smile, cry everything just made Phil love him more to the point where he just couldn't take it anymore. Last night he stayed up till the break of dawn packing his bags making sure he had everything in them, including little things that Dan had bought him and of course not forgetting totoro. Also leaving some of his shirts that Dan liked to wear seeing as they both basically shared each other's shirts all the time.

Phil sat at the dining table with a pen in hand and a pad lay down in front of him. 'To Dan,' He wrote down before scrunching it up and throwing it into the bin next to him. 'So Dan' the same happened again. This process continued for another twelve sheets of paper before he had finally got what he wanted to write. 'Hey Dan, if you're reading this then I'm probably far from here by now. I just wrote this to tell you that there is no need to worry about me and well.. To tell you the reason. I've gone away because, I love you Dan, more than you could think, ever since we first met there was just something about you that just. Yeah. You have made me a more confident person and showed me that the world isn't all that bad but I have to go. Seeing you every day, knowing that you won't love me back. It hurts so much I just can't take it, I was going to resort to cutting but I was too scared to do it. Silly right? The only way I could release my pain and keep you and I was scared. I'm sorry it has to end like this and I'm sorry I can't say this to your face. Please don't hate me. Lots of Love Phil. P.S. I left you some shirts if that makes anything better… No? Okay.' It was done. The pen was placed next to the pad as Phil got up and went to his room collecting his bags together. Tears threatened to pour down Phil's cheeks, but he didn't care anymore and let them stream down staining his pale skin. Picking up the big heavy bag then grabbing the suitcase he was ready to go. Walking over to the door the male took one last look around their flat. "I'm so sorry Dan." He whispered as he turned to the door opening it then closing it after him and posting the keys threw the letter box.

This is it.


	2. Until it's gone

Dan happily slipped his keys into the door, swinging it open. "Phil! I'm back!" His voice echoed throughout their house. Silence. Not even a little mumble for a reply, just complete silence. Maybe Phil had just one out for a walk, no he couldn't of, he would have texted Dan telling him so. As the male walked in he spotted a pad on the table with some writing on. That's right, he just left a note to tell him, how cute of him. Phil never seize being his adorable self, it was hard to not fall in love with the raven haired male. Setting his bags down, Dan grabbed the pad the flopped down onto the couch with a sigh as he started to read threw the cute little note Phil had written for him.

A single gasp left Dan's mouth as he felt his world slowly start to fall apart, piece by piece. Painfully.

Dropping the pad he quickly sped over to Phil's room, going faster than he had ever ran before. Shoving the door open his eyes wandered around the room to see that everything had been emptied except the shirts that Phil had kindly left on his bed, folded perfectly then placed on top of each other. By this time tears stung the corners of his eyes but Dan being the stubborn man he was, he quickly moved back down the stairs and grabbed his jacket before running out of his house. 'Where could he have gone? Why did he have to leave me?' Two of the many questions that rushed through Dan's head, violently crashing into each other causing him to have a headache almost as worse as the ones during his hangovers. "Have you seen a guy he's abo-" "Excuse me ha-" "My friends ran aw-" Why did no one want to listen? Didn't they care, of course they didn't, why would they? He was just a 'young man' in help that was probably a shop lifter who took drugs. No. Why did society have to be so stereotypical?

Starbucks, no.

Park, no.

Bus stop, no.

Every place that Dan could think of. No.

Where was he? Finally the last place Dan could check was the train station but that was about an hour away by foot so instead he called a taxi, who actually arrived covalently fast. The ride was horrid, the males stomach couldn't stop flipping meaning that he shuffled around in his seat. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket he rang Phil. Ring, ring. Nothing. At this point his eyes were continuously streaming with tears, nonstop tears of so many emotions. It's true what they say, you don't know what you have until it's gone, one minute Dan had everything he could ask for, the next it was all stolen away from him, but that had to change, he was determined to find Phil.

"Would ya' look at that." Came the taxi drivers voice, they were stuck in a traffic jam but they were pretty close to the front so he was able to nosey at what was there. "Looks like there's been an accident or summit, I think this is as close as we're gonna get mate." Dan's heart skipped a beat, quickly grabbing his wallet and throwing the man some money he rushed out of the taxi spotting the huge crowd of people stood around something, someone. "Excuse me! Move please!" He tried to shove past the audience to see who or what was causing all the commotion. As he got closer, a foot came into sight. Wearing a very familiar shoe.


	3. Losing him

Hesitantly pushing people out of the way to try and see who it was, hoping, praying that it wasn't Phil. "Please Mr! Please wake up!" A small girl pleaded kneeling next to the lifeless body, her voice had hints of sadness in it but mainly fear as the man didn't reply to her calls. Dan heard he calls, Mr, she said Mr. It was a man, oh god what if-. He reached the front of the crowd. His heart stopped as his jaw started to drop, his tears streaming down his face like a waterfall. In front of him lay Phil, beaten and bruised, his face had scratches and cuts all over it, blood trickling down his head then dripping onto the road. Next to him lay his suitcase which was open and his clothes were scattered everywhere and then a few feet back was his big bag, fully intact. Phil's body was sprawled over the road, it was easy to tell what had happened but why, Phil wasn't that clumsy, well with the road anyway.

As Dan stood in pure shock, the little girl turned and saw him. She was around about eight, she had long brown curly locks of hair with bright blue eyes. "Sir, excuse me sir!" Running over to the chocolate haired male she grabbed his hand and tugged on it. "You know him don't you? Dan! That's your name! Please help Dan!" She pleaded to him. "He's not replying to me!" Tears fell from her red sore red eyes. Nodding he was quick to pull his phone out dialling 999 and giving them the details needed before frowning. "You need to be here quicker! I don't care just fucking hurry!" Huffing, his phone got shoved in his pocket before running to Phil's side, the small girl chasing after him and intertwining her and Dan's fingers together. "He'll be okay right?" She asked with innocence and hope gleaming in her sea blue eyes. "Yes." Dan chocked a reply back to the small girl before dropping to his knees. "I'm so sorry Phil, I shouldn't of left today I should have put you first. If only I knew how you felt, I'd tell you I love you even more but now you…. Please don't leave me Phil, you can't leave me, I love you. Please." He begged to the limp boy who lay on the road, he didn't deserve this, if it were to happen to anyone it should have been Dan. If he had just told Phil how he felt none of this would have ever happened.

After what seemed like house the ambulance had arrived, moving Dan and the little girl aside checking Phil before moving him onto a stretcher, one of them shouting to the other. "Possible spinal injuries!" Dan chased after Phil, the small girl following after silently. "Please can I go with him?" He asked with one of the neediest tones he had ever used before, but it was completely relevant to the situation. The female who helped get the stretcher into the van nodded to both the male and smaller female moving and letting them both have a seat as her and another male started to work on Phil.

Everything was silent, nothing else in the world mattered anymore, not even the sweet girl who sat next to the lifeless male whispering "please wake up" all that mattered was Phil. His skin pale filled with crimson blood and violet bruises patched all over the rest of his skin. So many questions ran through Dan's head not everything was questions, some were thoughts like if Dan didn't go out would this have not ever happened or if he forced Phil to come with him would the male still be by his side. Happy.

"We're losing him." The woman said to the man assisting her.


	4. He saved me

In that second it felt like the once perfect life he had led got violently tore apart into miniature pieces that would never be able to slot back together again. What was he going to do without Phil? He basically looked after the older male like his own brother, the thought of living alone, waking up and making breakfast for one. Never being able to see his tongue stick out from the side of his mouth while he cutely chuckled, then bringing his hands up to his mouth hiding it. The man was too young, it wasn't his time, well Dan convinced himself to think about that. He got pulled away from his thought by a small weak tug on his arm then a soft voice following after.

"I-I… H-He will be okay won't he?" The small girls voice hitched as she spoke, her soft blue eyes were surrounded with red as her tears rolled down her chubby cheeks. Dan's eyes flicked from the young girl to Phil's pale face as his body was being shocked trying to bring some life back into it. Just as his eyes moved back to the female another female voice, this time it was the older female. "He's breathing… Weak pulse." Examining the now alive body, which still looked lifeless but he was breathing and to be honest, as long as he was breathing, everything would be fine right? "Yes. Phil's strong, I know he is. He'll be fine." Forcing himself to tear his eyes away from Phil and look at the young girl, not being able to form even the smallest smile, he wasn't even able to steady his voice. Seeing this she hugged onto him tightly, letting her tears roll down onto his shirt but the hug was soon returned back to her.

After what felt like an hour they had finally arrived at the hospital, Phil was quickly wheeled in as Dan and the unnamed girl got asked to sit in the waiting room and give in his name which he had already done. They expected him to wait patiently, he wasn't a patient person he wanted to see Phil now, be by his side no matter what they said. The male started to pace back and forth worry was written all over his face. "Dan please stop, you're making me feel dizzy!" The girl complained as he eyes followed him back and forth while she sat on the chair with her knees up to her chest. Stopping, he looked to the younger girl. Why was she even here and how did she know Phil but most of all, how did she know Dan? "S-Sorry.. If you don't mind me asking but how do you know Phil?" He asked as he claimed the seat next to the girl, waiting for her reply. "Well.. I was doing what Phil was. He helped me because he said I looked lost and we became friends. " A small smile appeared onto her rosy red lips as her mind went back to the moment they met, but she was soon rudely interrupted. "What about your parents? They'll be worried sick!" Dan would have to ring her parents and tell them she's okay, but what if they asked where she was? God this was another thing on his plate that he really didn't need. "I don't have any. That's why Philly said he would take care of me. Then-then. I-I didn't mean to! I-I didn't know!" Her emotions changed from happy to in some way scared that she was going to get the blame. "Oh.. Sorry…" Dan looked down, he felt somewhat guilty that she had no parents obviously she lived in foster care then but he thought it was nice there. His thought's got interrupted as the girls tone changed, looking back towards her. "What do you mean?" Silence then fell between the two as she sniffled before plucking up the courage to speak again. "I-I went on the road. I wasn't looking… Phil pushed me out of the way. He saved me."

"Dan?" A woman interrupted the two. Dan's head shot up. "Y-Yes?" Spotting the brown haired male she walked over to him before looking to her clipboard. "Your friend isn't in the best state, he still hasn't woke up so we can't do any proper tests to check if he's alright but all we do know is that he has a broken leg and fractured both arms in many places."


	5. Fantasy Land

He's alright Dan, he's alright. Those two words were forced to repeat in Dan's head, he had to ignore everything else, he was alive and well. "Can… Do you think we'll be able to see him?" He then asked in a much calmer voice than before, the light haired woman nodded then waited for them both to stand before she led them to Phil's room. The brunet debated with himself whether he should actually go in or not, however he decided to go in as it would have been selfish of him not to just because he didn't want to see Phil in the state he was in. The raven haired male needed him to be there.

Walking into the room, there he laid white sheets over his small body and his pale arms lay out next to him. His skin was almost the same colour as the bed sheets except for the wounded sections of skin that were marked with a deep violet, scarlet bruises and raw red slashes and grazes. Then worst of all was seeing all the little things attached to his arm then a pipe was joined to it, his eyes traced where the pipe ended, it was connected to some liquid in a bag. Also there was a clip on his finger keeping his pulse, it was steady. He walked to the side of the hospital bed where Phil lay, placing his hand into the others, he was still freezing but that wasn't out of the ordinary the male always had cold hands. "Phil." Dan spoke softly. "I know you probably can't hear me but, I promise to stay here, by your side until you get better. I won't let you out of my sight this time." As he spoke, Dan's thumb stroked over the others hand letting his tears roll down his soft skin.

"D-Dan." His chocolate brown eyes peeled themselves away from Dan and to the little girl who was still without a name. "Yes little one?" The male asked the younger girl as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Do you think.. I could stay here, to look after Phil too?" She asked as her eyes grew wider, pouting. How could Dan resist that adorable face, he knew that she needed to go back to where ever she lived whether that was in a care home or with her aunt and uncle. "Of course. Here do you want to ring your carers?" Dan asked as he went to get out his phone but was stopped by a small hand on his wrist, her eyes still pouting slightly. "Please, no. Not yet." Nodding he put his phone back, then picked the girl up so she could see Phil. After waiting a few moments he sat down, placing her on his lap. "So little missy, you seem to know me but I don't know you. What's your name?" He asked, poking her sweet little button nose gently as he did so. "My name is Ella, I am eight and-and err. I like cats." Ella smiled softly as that was the only thing she could think of to tell the older male, she snuggled into his chest as he chuckled.

Before they both knew it, they were both asleep Ella snuggled into Dan's chest and his arms wrapped around her. If anyone was to walk in they would have thought that they were a family, Dan and Phil being the farther to this beautiful little girl. But of course.

That was just in fantasy land.


	6. Drifting off

"Sir… Sir…" A soft voice echoed around his head as continual gentle tapping on his shoulder, letting a small grumble out of his mouth as he wormed down into the chair ever so slightly more. However his eyes were quick to open as he remembered where he was, the first thing that his chocolate brown orbs focused onto was the nurse that jumped as he opened his eyelids terribly fast. "Sorry to wake you but visiting hours are over. You and your daughter have to leave." The lady spoke softly and quietly but loud enough so that Dan could hear her. "No, please I have to stay with him. We have to stay here. I promised them both." They weren't going to tear Dan and Ella away from Phil that easily, hospital or not he was staying there. It took him a moment to realize what the nurse had also said. "Oh, she isn't my daughter, just a… Friend." He admitted as his eyes moved down to the sleeping girl, she was at peace it would be wrong to wake her up now. "Of course you can. There is only one bed though dear, is that alright?" The brown eyed male nodded, it was fine if Ella had to sleep in the same bed as him, they were close enough anyway right? Plus Dan was slim and Ella was only small, there would be more than enough room for the two of them. "Yes, yes that'll be fine."

Soon enough there was a small single bed set up next to Phil's hospital bed, the sounds made Ella stir but not once did she even attempt to open her eyes. However, she deserved a long rest; her day mustn't have been that nice either. Rest, yes that was the best thing to do in a situation like this, just calm down and relax. Before leaving the nurse did ask if they wanted to go and get any positions but they declined the offer not needing anything vital really, she soon left the room. Silence echoed around the walls of the room as the male slowly placed the young girl onto the bed, tucking her in before kissing her forehead like she was his own. As the small girl lay comfortably in bed, Dan moved over to Phil, softly kissing his hand then stroking it affectionately with his thumb. "Night Phil, wake up tomorrow unless I'll poke your sides and tickle you until you do." He smiled softly trying to joke about it but failing as he only felt worse about the whole situation. Slowly and carefully he made his way into the shared bed then wrapping his arm around Ella as she turned to face him, then curled up into his chest.

They slowly drifted off.


	7. Lose him

Dan woke up, stretching out making sure he did not knock the sleeping girl but as his eyes started to focus he realized he wasn't in the same room and in fact the girl was sat in the corner, rocking, crying. Quickly he shot up running over to the girl. "Ella? What's happened? Where's Phil?" The brunet asked as his heart began to pump faster in his chest. "H-He." Ella sobbed finding it hard to speak as she coughed from crying so much. "T-They took him.. H-His heart.. S-Stopped." Frozen, his body stopped, his heart ceased to work, pain pulsed through his body. It was going to be fine, it was just a check up, nothing serious. Or so he hoped. "They-won't let us, go." She whimpered, wrapping her arms around Dan's neck, crying into his shoulder. Dan had to get them out of here, they needed to know how Phil was, carefully he picked up the fragile girl and walked over to the door. As Dan pushed the door it didn't move, it stayed firmly close, frowning he tried again, and again, and again. "Fucking hell!" He cursed as he kicked the door harshly, doing more damage to his foot than the actual door. "Bad word." Ella hiccupped before bringing her head up to look into the other corner of the room, her eyes widened and her skin turned pale. "P-Phil!" She managed to untangle herself from Dan's arms and move over to the corner but as Dan's chocolate eyes followed her, he only saw.

Nothing.

"Ella, come away from there! We need to get out." Dan frowned but didn't dare walk anywhere near her just in case there was something there. "Dan don't say that, it's Phil! Can't you see him?" There was a long pause before the girl spoke again."What do you mean? Of course he can see you! If I can Dan can! I missed you!" The blue eyed girl hugged onto thin air happily, however Dan wasn't happy at all, instead he turned and kicked the door down before snatching Ella up and speeding out of the room. The girl thrashed around in his arms, hitting and kicking him, screaming Phil's name at the top of her lungs, ignoring this though Dan got to the reception. "Phil? Phil Lester? Where is he? Please what have you done with him?!" The male spoke hesitantly, showing no emotions except one, fear, he was so afraid at this moment that words could not even describe how he felt. His insides felt like they were being twisted and pulled then thrown around, his head was booming. "Phil Lester.. He went in for operation." The woman grinned before speaking again. "He went in early this morning, probably gone by now." She snickered harshly which made the male want to give her what she deserved but no, he couldn't. Instead he ran off trying to find out which room he was being operated in.

After what felt like hours he had finally found him, as he barged into the room his jaw dropped as the surgeons moved away from his body, he was pale, paler than he had ever been before. There was silence in the room except for the flat line on the monitor which created a continues beep that filled the room. "No. no. No! Help him! Save him! Do something!" Dan put the girl down before running over to Phil, his body shaking and his head spinning. "DO SOMETHING!" He screamed before dropping his forehead down and placing it onto Phil's cold head. Then suddenly, he started to hear small hisses of whispers around him, looking around all the surgeons started to whisper to each other and slowly close in on Dan.

"NO!" Dan yelled as he sat up, beads of sweat running down his face and nurses surrounding him accompanied by Ella. He panted trying his best to gain his breath back before shoving one of the woman out of the way so he could see Phil. Still lay there, just as he was left. It was a night terror.

He didn't lose him.


	8. I love you

Panting heavily Dan dropped his head into his hands as he tried to calm himself down. That was the worst nightmare he had ever had, he never had them when he was younger as whenever he went to sleep he had the ability to tell the difference between reality and dream land but as he grew older that ability faded away. As his breathing slowly started to get back to its normal pattern a small voice came from the side of him. "Dan, are you alright now?" Little Ella asked as she placed her hand onto the males, gently removing them from his face and offering him a soft smile. "You really had me scared Mr!" She said jokingly and clambered back onto the bed, with a little help for the nurse. After Dan got quizzed from each individual nurse asking if he was okay then leaving he was finally left alone with Ella and Phil. "Sorry little missy, I didn't mean to scare you." He spoke bringing his hand to the girls cheek letting his thumb stroke her chubby cheek.

As the time past the two continued to talk happily and Dan started to get really attached to the girl, she was so sweet and kind, almost the double of Phil just with brown long hair, he did often wonder what happened to her parents as, who would give up a little angel like her? "Stop that!" She giggled as Dan tickled her sides, she wriggled around the bed trying to escape the male's hands but failing as he continued to tickle her. "You're both so cute." Came a weak voice from the other side of the room, the two both stopped straight away and their heads shot to the side to see Phil, awake and smiling as he watched them play.

"PHIL!" The small girl cheered as she escaped from Dan and ran to Phil's bed side. "You're awake! How are you? Are you feeling okay? Would you like me to get a nurse?-" Ella speedily spoke but Dan managed to but in. "Ella, how about you go and get the nurse at the desk? I'll stay here and look after Phil." The chocolate haired girl nodded and happily skipped out of the room, knowing the reception was only down the hall.

"Phil." Dan breathed as he got up and stood next to him, placing his hand onto the males, he was still cold. "The note-" "Ignore it. I was being stupid." Phil quickly spoke, he thought Dan was going to hate him forever, even though he was still here doesn't mean that he liked Phil. "How can I ignore it when I feel exactly the same way? I should have said something but, I guess I was to chicken for once. I didn't mean to put you through all of this. It shouldn't of happened to you." Dan softly squeezed the cold hand he had a hold of as he fought back tears, but to his surprise the gentle squeeze was returned. "None of this is your fault Dan."

"I love you."  
"I love you too."


	9. Why couldn't life be simple

Silence fell in the room as Dan stared into Phil's bright blue ocean like eyes, getting lost in them. As Phil did the same. But they soon were disturbed by the little girl storming in and giggling somewhat as she spoke. "Look! Here he is!" She was pulling on the nurses hand happily dragging her into the room to where Phil lay. The brunet wasn't sure what to think of the older female, after his night terror his trust started to fade for the staff here, he knew they were doing their best to help the weak male that was attached to his hand, but there was just that thought that stayed in the back of his head. The nurse came over to examine Phil but all the time, Dan's hand stayed attached to the older males. His eyes stayed locked onto the woman until he felt a small nudge on his thigh, looking down to see Ella. "Dan, why are you looking nastily at the pretty lady?" She asked tilting her head as she watched Dan expressions change, he had no idea what his face was doing while he watched the lady, he was only making sure that she didn't do anything suspicious.

The time passed, the woman had come and gone leaving the three on their own. Ella was sat on Dan's knee as he was sat on a chair that was pulled up right next to the ebony haired male. "Thank you for staying here with Dan, Ella." Phil smiled weakly towards the girl. "I'd love you to stay for longer and help me get better but the carers will be worried about you." The pale man watched as her face slowly changed from being happy to sad, looking down to her own lap she sighed. "I don't want to go." Ella then quickly turned and clung onto Dan's shirt as tight as she could. "Please, I don't want to go!" She spoke again nuzzling her face into the warm chest of the man who felt overly sorry for her, he'd hate to make such a bubbly girl suddenly turn sad like she was. "Hey, how about I ask if you can stay in the hospital with me and Phil while he gets better? I'm sure they'll let you." As soon as the idea let Dan's lips, her head shot up and he nodded quickly then looked over to Phil, her big eyes staring into his, asking for his permission. "Okay, you two go. I'm a bit tired so I'll catch up on some sleep." Dan nodded and got up, picking the girl up with him. He leant over and placed a kiss on Phil's cheek and to both of the male's surprises as did Ella on his opposite cheek. As they were about to leave Phil called Dan's name and waited until he turned around to speak again. "Could you bring my lion teddy?" He asked with an innocent blink and in that split second Dan swore he saw Phil as a child again, his childlike innocence in all of its glory for the world to see. With a nod the male and young female had let the room and headed off for the children's home where Ella lived.

This would have been great, Ella would have been able to stay with him and Phil whilst Phil got better, but he knew that he would have to explain everything that happened. It would be that easy to accomplish seeing as Ella did run away in the first place.

Why couldn't life be simple?


	10. The haunted building

Seeing as Dan couldn't drive, he had to call a taxi to pick the two up. The idea of driving always appealed to him, he'd just have to hop in his care to get somewhere instead of going on a bus with a load of miserable strangers, then not forgetting the irritating kids that get on thinking they own the whole bus and the people inside, treating them like peasants. Whereas in a car, it's your own, you can do what you like in it, blast out what music you like and you can get to places quicker without having to stop every minute. He soon broke away from his mind as the taxi had pulled up and Ella was pulling at his hand.

"Come on Mr. Day dreamer!" She giggled, half leading him and half dragging him towards the taxi. Surprisingly Ella was excited to go to her care home, Dan pondered on whether she even remembered running away or if she just thought she could get away with it easily. He never wanted the young bubbly girl to get punished for what she had done; there was obviously a reason behind it, just like Phil. No. No, he shouldn't think about Phil at the moment-it was Ella's time now. They hopped into the taxi and Dan had to ask Ella where the car home was for the driver, as she explained every shop that it was near the driver finally made sense of it all and they soon set of on their small adventure to Ella's home.

After a long discussion about how much Ella loved cats, how they were so fluffy but not forgetting the ones with no fur and that she loved every single cat equally, not forgetting how she gets sad when she sees cats with not tail. The girl was so innocent, her aura so bubbly, she was yet to find out what the real world was like. Yes she had been involved with the real world seeing Phil being hit but that was only the start. She was yet to experience the pain of relationships, hate, anger and so many more emotions. It almost hurt Dan in a way to think that the girl would have to go through all of this. They finally arrived at the old looking building; Dan paid the driver, letting him keep the change. Ella then led him to the entrance.

As they got closer Dan's eyes ate up the look of the old building, it looked dusty and the brick work was slowly wearing away, it was huge, not like a mansion but on the verge of it. This place, it looked like it could have been involved in a horror movie. His eyes moved, investigating the building in further detail, something wasn't, right, about this house, it sent a shiver down his back just thinking about the inside. Ella clung onto his hand tightly as he took a step forward knocking on the old black door, in doing so small flakes of black paint drifted off the door.

How did Ella manage to live here without nightmares?

Dan was a grown man and he knew this building was going to haunt him for a long time.


	11. Please?

After nearly a minute of waiting Dan heard some banging noises from behind the doors which made his stomach churn with more curiosity than actual fear. Soon enough the door slowly creaked open then a grumble came, it was low pitched like a man's voice it sounded like they had struggle with their breathing as a accompanied the grumble. Dan's body froze slightly and at this point he had no idea what to expect anymore, out came an old looking woman, probably around her sixties or and age close to that. "Wha' do yo' want?" The woman growled towards Dan, not noticing the younger girl next to him, her face was harsh never mind the house being in a horror film. "I, have come here, to discuss something with you concerning Ella." Dan tried to speak confidently but it was hard to when you had eyes glaring at you, hate filled, she made him feel so small.

The elder woman looked down to the small girl, her glare staying exactly the same, making Ella feel extremely uncomfortable and hide behind Dan slightly. "Well are you going to let us in then or what?" The brunet spoke again, more sternly this time, hating the way that the woman looked at Ella, no wonder she wanted to run away. After a moment of glaring into each other's eyes, both of them trying to win the silent battle they were both as stubborn as each other. Dan was never that stubborn but when it came down to people like her, his stubbornness reached a new level . They were finally let in with a groan.

As they walked in Dan let his eyes wander around the building, it was nearly as bad as the outside, dusty, grey, very old, it looked like this place hadn't been properly cleaned in ten years. There were cracks up the walls, on the ceiling and everything was lit by candles. Creaking was heard above them, along with little scuttling noises that must be the other children. They were lead to a small room, it had a desk then a couple of chairs and that was it. If this was her office then it was extremely empty.

"Kid!" The woman called with her croaky voice, she reminded Dan of a toad which made him chuckle but then he quickly covered it by a cough. A child came in, they looked around their teens, probably about fourteen at the least. He had scruffy dirty-blond hair, his clothes were ragged and not in the best of conditions. Not one single word lift his mouth, it was like he already read the woman's mind and grabbed a chair for Dan and Ella hen moved off into the corner of the room where he stayed for the rest of the time.

When Dan sat down on his chair a cloud dust flew into the air, surrounding him. He gasped in shock but inhaled most of the dust which just made him choke. When he finally gained his breath back by himself, not one of them lifting a finger to pat on his back or just ask if he was okay. "You wan' a complain 'bout her?" The woman asked with some sort of, joy in her voice at the idea of Dan complaining. "No. Quite the opposite. I'd like to gain the permission from her carer to look after her for a couple of weeks. One of my friends who loves Ella is in hospital and would love if she could stay by his side though this hard time." Dan ended with a formal nod, his sat up straight and awaited the reply of the woman who's face which had changed to a more horrific look than before.

"Please Ms. Hillary, just this once?" Ella spoke so timidly, her personality disappeared, she seemed nervous. "Please?"


	12. Where is she?

"You snuck out, made a friend, 'n' you think I'm gonna jus' let you walk out wit' some strange." The elderly women hissed towards the child, making her jump then look down to her lap. If she thought she could just get away with speaking to an innocent child like that then she had another thing coming. "Excuse me, as far as I'm concerned, you're keeping this children locked up in here, that boy didn't even speak a word, he looks petrified! If you continue the way you are then I'm going to report you to the police, this is child abuse." Dan ended his rant, but was ready to continue if she dared say anything more but it looked like that was enough to break her. Her expression was shocked, it looked like she wasn't used to people threatening her before. "Fine. Now leave." Growling her wrinkled finger pointed towards the door and the teen boy scuttled towards it opening it for the other two. They happily stood up, Ella taking Dan's hand again as they walked out. A cluster of children had gathered on the stairs to watch as they left. It was in a way scary, they just stared said nothing, just watched as they got to the door, once it was open all of them ran off like the outside hurt them in some strange manner.

Once the door was closed Ella giggled and jumped into Dan's arms, he was quick to catch her and bring her in to his chest. "You did it Dan!" Ella cheered delightfully, nuzzling her face into Dan's shoulder. Even though he was overly happy that Ella could spend more time with both him and Phil, he was still slightly upset though, the children in there were so isolated, they didn't deserve a life like that. No one did. The small girl noticed how distant Dan seemed to be acting after leaving the old building, at first she thought that he had been possessed and started prodding his cheek. "Dan?" She whined. "What's wrong? I thought you would be happy?" Ella was so confused by the males acts.

"Oh. No no, I am really happy about it." Dan chuckled pushing the thought to the back of his mind, then cracking a smile before walking to the edge of the road waiting for the taxi that he told to come back after ten minutes. After a few minutes the taxi pulled up again, the man hopping out and opening the door for the two before slamming it shut and jumping in again. Before the man started driving, he told the driver where he lived as he remembered that Phil wanted his lion teddy. All the way back to the hospital Ella continued to speak of how long she would spend with both of the males, what would happen when she had to go back home and would they continue to stay in contact with her.

When they got to the flats, Dan told the driver he would be a moment but Ella being the curious girl she is, wanted to join him. It only took about a minute to reach his shared flat and was already at the door slipping the key into the lock twisting it then opening the wooden door, letting the smaller girl go in first. She let out a small gasp of amazement. "It's so nice and clean. Oh!" The young girl soon wandered off looking at everything they had, whilst Dan wandered off to Phil's room grabbing his lion teddy, and also totoro. "Ella, come on now, time to go!" Dan shouted as he left the room, his eyes scanning around to fine the chocolate haired girl. "Ella? Ella come on now?.." There was no reply.

Where was she?


	13. Too attached

This is it - Chapter 13 - Too attached

Dan hesitantly looked around for the young girl, this feeling was uncomfortably familiar, the panic surging through his body, his heart pumping at one hundred miles per hour. Not again. He felt like he was having a panic attack, his heart pumping in his chest, his breathing increasing rapidly as he looked all over the flat for the young girl. The feeling was horrid not one he would wish upon anyone else in his entire life. God Dan you idiot, how could you lose her within less than a minute!

"Ella? Ella!" Dan yell, shouted. Whispered. His shout just echoed the only noise to be heard was his racing heart then, along came the sound of small rain drops hitting the window. At first only a few transparent droplets hit the window, then a few more. It continued like this until it was pouring down, however that didn't bother Dan at all. Wandering around the flat shouting the young girls name over and over again. It was only until he looked over to the door that he saw it was left wide open. Did she? No. No.

Yes...

The brown haired male kept hold of the two teddies, he couldn't just leave them here, rushing to the door and slamming it closed behind him, Dan began to call Ella once again, frantically looking and shouting around for the young female, causing many people to open their flat doors to see what the problem was. As he was running down one of the many corridors something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Moving to the window he saw the brunet girl standing in the rain dripping wet. With out even thinking Dan was already half way down the stairs and soon enough out of the building and into the cold, harsh rain.

"Ella!" The male yelled to the small girl as she turned around, her expressions showed fear, she resembled a lost puppy. Once her eyes laid upon Dan all of that fear disappeared, shouting the mans name she ran up to him, jumping up in his arms as Dan picked her up and rested her onto his hip. "Don't you ever run off like that again okay?" He questioned the girl, by the end of this he was going to end up with a fear of people running away wasn't he? "Sorry." Ella spoke sadly, pronouncing her r's as w's. Which was incredible cute, and also made it hard for Dan to stay mad at her for too long. "Let's go and see Philly shall we?" The brunet decided to change the subject, which had worked as the female nodded happily.

The two had to wait for a few minutes for the taxi to arrive again, opening the door they both clambered in and with that they were on their way. The trip was nice, calm. He and Ella both laughed and joked with each other. It felt like, she was his daughter. They were both so alike it was unbelievable and slightly ironic in a way. That fact also made him fall in love with her that bit more, he knew he shouldn't but she was the sweetest thing ever. He was beginning to get slightly...

Too attached.


End file.
